Corporate Narratives

The Genuine Origin Coffee Project

Genuine Origin is committed to sourcing and supplying green coffee sustainably at the farm level. It's a tricky thing. Typically, coffee transactions are made over computers with a great distance between producer and purchaser. More commonly, however, middlemen broker the deals having little regard for the long-term health of the crop or for the people who grew it.

A new company, wanting to break into the industry by breaking with tradition and convention, The Genuine Origin Coffee Project wanted to put a face to their coffees when they introduced them to their customers. So they asked me to "jouney to Origin" to meet some of these people, learn about their lives and livelihood, record their stories and capture their images.

Images are currently being used widely across media. In fact, Agapito, an effortlessly happy Guatemalan producer, has become the face of the launch campaign. He (and many others) can be seen in social media, industry print, website, online advertising, and larger-than-life hanging on the wall of corporate headquarters in New York City.

Agapito

Agapito grew up during the Guatemalan Civil War. The conflict between the state and insurgent guerillas lasted more than 30 years and the killings reached the scale of genocide. Every day his family lived in fear of their home being robbed, overtaken, or destroyed. Today, his farm provides specialty coffee to third wave roasters around the world.

Chuachacalte, Guatemala

1800 m.a.s.l.

The producers

Agapito, Ruben, Mateo, Fernando and Jorge Mario.

Open

In addition to managing and working the coffee farm, each farmer has a secondary trade. Ruben's general store provides the community with everything they don't cultivate themselves.